Profile

Rev. Flo Fleischman

Remembrances

Know Flo Fleischman?

The Rev. Florine L. Fleischman was a student at the University of Tampa in
the late 1940s where she connected with other lesbians and gay men, particularly
through Literati, a student writers group. She also wrote for the university
newpaper, Minaret. She was blocked from becoming editor of the paper in
1951 because of her "mannish attire." From 1951 to 1956 Fleischman was active
with underground gay and lesbian activities in Tampa and Miami, despite
intense persecution by the notoriously anti-gay Tampa Vice squad.

Flo moved to southern California in 1956, in part to escape this oppression.
She checked out ONE, Inc., there but found it and its leader Dorr Legg very
male-oriented and not welcoming to her. She later met Betty Perdue and, in 1963,
the two of them formed a lesbian group "to improve our lot as lesbians and
women." The group was comprised largely of professional women, so they met in
secrecy and used pseudonyms. The group eventually became the Manhattan Beach
chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis. Flo came out publicly as a lesbian during
this period.

In 1965, Flo became active with the Council on Religion and the Homophile
that Dorr Legg and Jim Kepner founded in Los Angeles. She became one of the
public faces of that group, appearing on panels and other public events to speak
about her experiences and that of other lesbians and gay men. In 1971, she
joined the first Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in Los Angeles. She decided
to pursue pastoral ministry and received a bachelor's degree in theology from
the Samaritan Theological Institute in 1979. She was licensed to ministry in the
MCC and pastored at MCC Oceanside and MCC Van Nuys.

In 1984, she left the MCC and founded New Hope Christian Church in Van Nuys.
She pastored and nurtured this gay and lesbian religious "extended family" for
about 15 years. A successful businesswoman, Flo supported herself
financially through her years of ministry as an investigative real estate
claims adjustor and commercial collection manager.

Fleischman was elected to the board of the ONE Institute and Archives in Los
Angeles in 1995 and served as president from 1998 until 2000.

(This information taken from a profile about Fleischman written by Ernie
Potvin and published in ONE-IGLA Bulletin #4, Winter 1998, and also an
interview with her by C. Todd White, Ph.D., published in his Legends column in
the Orange County and Long Beach Blade, May 2005. Photo by C. Todd White.)